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The Email "Fave" Button and How it Would Affect Business

Aug 29, 2014

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Many have discussed the possibility of an email "fave" or "like" button, or in the case from the video in this Atlantic post – a “cool” button (take a look at the video if you have time, it is pretty entertaining!). Nearly every social media platform is built upon a similar premise, yet email still lives without a comparable function to quickly and easily let the sender know you appreciated the email. How would this functionality affect business emails and strategy?

First, it’s important to understand the significance and functionality this type of feature.

The “fave” or “like” button could be much more than just a way for subscribers to notify you that they like something. Yes, it’s a sign of agreement, but it’s also considered a form of “one-bit-communication”, allowing for a fast, easy reply. It often signifies acknowledgement that you received the message and can even go so far to symbolize a nod, a hello, or a farewell.

If your recipients could “like” an email and that interaction was trackable, it would amount to immensely important pieces of data. Currently emails can be tracked based on open rates and also on interactions within the email (links etc.). However this “like” button would be a way to understand deliverability a step further. A subscriber could read an email, choose not to interact with it all, but still like it to acknowledge that it was read and appreciated. Open rates are great, but it is hard to tell if a recipient opened an email and enjoyed it, or simply opened it to delete it. This button would solve that issue, and shed a much more accurate light on the actual interactions subscribers have with the emails they receive.

An email “fave” button would be a fantastic step for any company looking to track email interactions and ultimately improve the deliverability of their email campaigns.

Jonathon Mahon is a content marketer, writer and designer based in Boston. He writes for various digital publications and blogs specializing in the coud, email automation, software, and technology.​